Acceptance of employment equity plans by the Department of Labour
The Employment Equity Act promotes equal opportunity and fair treatment in employment and equitable representation of designated groups across all occupational categories and levels. Designated employers must create plans showing how they intend to meet these objectives.

In November 2007, the Director-General of the Department of Labour began a review of certain large JSE-listed companies to determine their level of compliance. Ten Bidvest companies were part of this review. They were asked to revisit structures, policies, procedures and plans intended to facilitate employment equity. Each company re-submitted its plan and the department’s employment equity team is conducting a follow-up review during which further feedback and guidance will be provided.

The Department of Labour has been supportive, helping companies plan more effectively and implement measures to speed up the pace of transformation.

Commitment, approach and strategy

BEE at Bidvest is about transforming the culture of the business and its supply chain. By increasing the participation of black people in the economy we achieve a more stable economic environment and a larger market within which to do business.

In November 2003, Bidvest and BEE partner Dinatla Investment Holdings developed the Bidvest Charter as the transformation vision for the Group. The Bidvest board, Bidvest executives and managers of Bidvest subsidiaries are signatories to the Charter.

The Charter describes Bidvest’s approach and commitment to BEE strategy and guides the transformation of Bidvest against targets in a scorecard. The charter is aligned with the DTI codes of good practice and will be reviewed regularly to ensure continued compliance with evolving legislation.

In line with Bidvest’s decentralised approach, individual companies implement strategy, formulating their own plans and undertaking specific initiatives.

The transformation committee, made up of executive and non-executive directors of Bidvest, reviews transformation progress against the Bidvest Charter, is responsible for the Group-wide communication strategy, and recommends transformation policies and strategies to the board. Effective communication and execution of BEE policies is ensured by a subcommittee, the transformation working committee, made up of senior divisional management.

Divisions report quarterly on progress towards transformation across the seven pillars of BEE. While the new codes are more stringent, they are clearer and more specific about recognition and measurement criteria. Based on this framework, Bidvest has developed and implemented an electronic reporting format that allows the Group to analyse and report information from individual companies and divisions. The next step is to integrate this initiative with the more detailed sustainability data collation tool, ensuring a single channel for data collection, reporting, analysis and planning. A self-assessment tool enables companies to continually measure progress and identify gaps and opportunities for achieving targets.

The regulatory framework requires that an independent accreditation body accredits BEE verification agencies. Approximately 60 BEE verification agencies are undergoing accreditation. By September 2008, none had been accredited, though the estimated date for full accreditation was August 2008. For internal verification, divisional commercial directors closely involved in the process verify that reported information is accurate and the financial directors at each level of data collation confirm accuracy. A limited assurance of sustainability data and BEE information is conducted by an independent assurance provider. An independent BEE rating agency verifies the information and issues a BEE certificate.

The working committee compiled the internal publication, Transformation and Empowerment 2007, to promote transformation and build commitment to broad-based empowerment by every Bidvest operation in South Africa. It targets supervisors and managers and contains a summary of the Bidvest Charter and Bidvest scorecard, the mechanism for measuring progress against targets set by the codes of good practice.

Divisional commercial directors have been active in their divisions, training and educating management on transformation and practical implementation issues. A national transformation roadshow has also communicated the importance of transformation and empowerment for South Africa and for Bidvest.

Response to these initiatives has been overwhelmingly positive. There is an unwavering commitment to transformation at all levels of management. Many businesses have employed transformation managers to assist divisional commercial directors in the implementation of company strategies. Quarterly feedback informs discussions on progress at business units, companies and divisional board meetings.

The codes consider equity ownership, management control, employment equity, skills development, preferential procurement, enterprise development and socio-economic development.

A particular challenge for Bidvest is the attraction, development and retention of black managers and the registration of suppliers to assist Bidvest’s preferential procurement reporting.

Ownership and control
Black ownership of Bidvest, based on the principles and methodology of the DTI codes, is 26,7%, with black women ownership of 13,7%. Dinatla’s core shareholders are WDB Investment Holdings (31,8%), Bassap Investments (13,6%), the Shanduka Group (14,4%) and the Bidvest Dinatla Trust (3,7%). The balance of the consortium owns 36,4% in blocks ranging from 4,1% to 5,5%. The consortium comprises entrepreneurs and black business professionals from across South Africa and diverse sections of the economy. In terms of the flow-through principles defined in the codes, Dinatla is 100% black-owned.

Bidvest has a broad base of shareholders, all of whom are minority shareholders. All are treated equally in terms of communication and engagement. Dinatla shareholders are engaged to identify areas where they can add business value. Specific engagement with the Dinatla regional partners takes place at divisional and business unit level.

	Divisional board representation Male 83,6% Female 16,4% White 75,1% Black 24,9%